An innovative water treatment system developed by Boral and a simple but highly effective ‘water weighted’ safety gate introduced by Holcim have claimed the top honours at this year’s Queensland Environment Health and Safety (EHS) Awards.

Hosted by Cement Concrete and Aggregates Australia (CCAA) and the Institute of Quarrying Australia (IQA) and sponsored by Hastings Deering-CAT, the Awards were presented in Brisbane recently by Environment and Heritage Protection Minister, the Hon. Andrew Powell MP. 

Boral Construction Materials won this year’s Environmental Innovation Award for its development of an inexpensive, safe and reliable water treatment system being rolled out at its concrete plants across Queensland. Far safer than the alternative treatment option of liquid acids, the system effectively neutralises alkaline-contaminated run-off water by dosing it with CO2 gas in the first flush settling pit, making the water safe for release or reuse in concrete batching. 

The Occupational Health and Safety Innovation Award went to Holcim – SEQ Queensland for its simple-to-use ‘water weighted’ safety gate that protects employees working on elevated platforms. The gate system has barriers at either end. The barrier at one end is automatically lowered when the opposite barrier is raised, allowing for safe access by forklifts with pallets from either end of the platform. The arms of the gate are partially filled with fluid, the transfer of which helps the operator lower and raise the barriers with ease.

Holcim’s SEQ Aggregates Transport group was Highly Commended in the new category, Community Leadership for its partnership with Goodna Youth Services and donation of goods such as clothing, shoes, blankets and Christmas food hampers.

CCAA Queensland State Manager, Aaron Johnstone, said this year’s Awards demonstrated yet again the industry’s commitment to reducing its environmental footprint and creating safer workplaces and stronger local communities.

The Queensland winners now go on to compete in the national CCAA EHS Awards, the winners of which will be announced at the biennial Construction Materials Industry Conference (CMIC) in Brisbane in September 2014. 

The full list of winners is available on the Cement Concrete and Aggregates Australia website.